Apple Valley Medical Center Physicians Remind Parents to Immunize Children Before School
APPLE VALLEY, Minn.--(Business Wire)--
Physicians at the Apple Valley Medical Center want to remind
parents to make sure their children have the proper immunizations
before entering school this fall. "Preventing diseases is always
better than treating them," said Amy Diede, M.D., family physician
with the Apple Valley Medical Clinic, located within the Apple Valley
Medical Center. "Diseases once common in the United States, such as
polio and whooping cough, have now nearly been eliminated by
vaccines."
Based on guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics and
the American Academy of Family Physicians, a child should have the
following immunizations before the age of six:
-- Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis (Tdap)
-- Haemophilus Influenzae Type B (Hib)
-- Hepatitis A (2 doses)
-- Hepatitis B
-- Pneumococcal
-- Inactivated Poliovirus
-- Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR)
-- Influenza (yearly)
-- Varicella (chicken pox)
Vaccines work by introducing a weakened or dead virus or bacteria
into the body, just enough to force the body to make antibodies, or
proteins, that fight a particular disease. These antibodies become
part of the body's immune system, sometimes lasting a lifetime.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, polio
took the lives of 350,000 individuals in 125 countries in 1988. By
2006, that number had been reduced to 2,000 in 17 countries, while
polio was virtually eliminated from the Western Hemisphere, Europe and
the Western Pacific region. The World Health Organization reports that
if the measles vaccine were stopped, there would be 2.7 million deaths
worldwide from measles each year.
"Children under the age of five do not have well-developed immune
systems, making them susceptible to a variety of diseases," said
Diede. "Immunizing our children not only protects them, but it also
prevents the spread of diseases to those too young or too ill to
receive vaccinations. Prevention is the key to public health."
The Apple Valley Medical Center includes the independent Apple
Valley Medical Clinic of 13 family practice physicians, serving
patients from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., five days a week. In addition, there
is a 24-hour Urgent Care Center and 25 specialty physicians seeing
patients through the United Specialty Center. Specialists on the
campus provide services in allergy and asthma; cardiology; colon and
rectal surgery; dermatology; ear, nose and throat; general surgery;
low back & neck care; neurology; ob/gyn; ophthalmology; orthopedics;
plastic surgery, podiatry and urology. The center also houses United
Medical Imaging for digital mammography, ultrasound, CT and MRI scans;
a full-service pharmacy; and physical medicine and rehabilitation care
through Integrated Medical Rehabilitation.
For more information about immunizations, contact the Apple Valley
Medical Center at 952-432-6161 or visit
www.applevalleymedicalcenter.com.
For Apple Valley Medical Center
Sue Haberle, 763-550-0101
Copyright Business Wire 2008
